12 months! Now what??

Hi Mamas!

Well, in just 2 short weeks my little guy is going to be a year old! I'm so excited and sad at the same time!

We've been lucky to have a wonderfully smooth breastfeeding relationship--we nurse on demand, he's never had a drop of formula,he gets intermittent solids (basically I give him some of whatever I'm eating throughout the day, he doesn't have "set" meals or meal times) he likes drinking from a straw but hasn't yet mastered having a cup of his own and he still wakes to nurse once in the night.

I guess I just don't know what to do next!

I would like to continue breastfeeding, but I would prefer to move away from pumping while at work.
What does/should the 12mo transition look like??
Will I start sending him to daycare with regular milk? And nurse at home? How much regular milk?? (Currently he drinks 3, 3oz bottles of BM during day)

I worry about him having adequate nutrition because, ill admit, I sometimes "forget" to feed him solids because its just so easy to pop him on the boob!

Ladies, I would appreciate ANY insight--how to pump wean, what his daily milk intake should be, what a typical "meal plan" should be for his age and how to still incorporate nursing until he's ready to wean fully

Re: 12 months! Now what??

Hi mama, congrats on making it to a year of breastfeeding! That's a wonderful accomplishment!

So what's next is... life gets better! Many mothers (myself included) pump wean at a year or thereabouts. So absolutely fine to start tapering back the pumping at this point. The way I have done this is to cut back on my last pumping session of the day, then eliminate, then wait some period of time (based on comfort), then move on to the next session. As with any type of weaning, pump weaning slowly can help minimize engorgement, plugged ducts, etc. And yes, you continue to nurse on demand at home mornings, evenings, nights, weekends. In fact, nursing is a great way to ensure that your LO does get adequate nutrition until he ramps up on the solids. Many mothers find that nursing actually ramps up quite a bit in the young toddler stage.

So what to substitute? The rule of thumb is that if you are still nursing 3-5 times per 24 hours, you don't need to give additional dairy. So you can just give water with meals and snacks at daycare. If you feel like he isn't getting enough mama's milk, you can give cow's milk with some of the meals instead. It's hard to give absolute amounts because it depends on how much you are still nursing. Or, you can give alternate forms of dairy (cheese, yogurt). Or, some prefer to stay away from dairy altogether, but that involves a little more planning in terms of getting baby the same amounts of fat, calcium, protein etc that are in dairy.

In terms of solids, once LO hits age one, that's when you start transitioning away from a "solids are for fun" (and to learn tastes, textures, and motor skills) mentality to trying to transition to a three meals per day, plus snacks, schedule. Of course this does not happen overnight. But it's a good idea to get into a habit of offering food at breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.

Re: 12 months! Now what??

Originally Posted by @llli*bfwmomof3

Hi mama, congrats on making it to a year of breastfeeding! That's a wonderful accomplishment!

So what's next is... life gets better! Many mothers (myself included) pump wean at a year or thereabouts. So absolutely fine to start tapering back the pumping at this point. The way I have done this is to cut back on my last pumping session of the day, then eliminate, then wait some period of time (based on comfort), then move on to the next session. As with any type of weaning, pump weaning slowly can help minimize engorgement, plugged ducts, etc. And yes, you continue to nurse on demand at home mornings, evenings, nights, weekends. In fact, nursing is a great way to ensure that your LO does get adequate nutrition until he ramps up on the solids. Many mothers find that nursing actually ramps up quite a bit in the young toddler stage

So what to substitute? The rule of thumb is that if you are still nursing 3-5 times per 24 hours, you don't need to give additional dairy. So you can just give water with meals and snacks at daycare. If you feel like he isn't getting enough mama's milk, you can give cow's milk with some of the meals instead. It's hard to give absolute amounts because it depends on how much you are still nursing. Or, you can give alternate forms of dairy (cheese, yogurt). Or, some prefer to stay away from dairy altogether, but that involves a little more planning in terms of getting baby the same amounts of fat, calcium, protein etc that are in dairy.

In terms of solids, once LO hits age one, that's when you start transitioning away from a "solids are for fun" (and to learn tastes, textures, and motor skills) mentality to trying to transition to a three meals per day, plus snacks, schedule. Of course this does not happen overnight. But it's a good idea to get into a habit of offering food at breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.

Thanks for the help mama!

I guess my only lingering question is how do I go about removing the bottle aspect from his day? Just a "rip the band aid" approach and take away bottle cold turkey? Or maybe just send one bottle a day instead of 3? I know he's still on the (bad) habit of taking a bottle to be put to sleep...he hasn't had anything other than a bottle and breast and I don't think he'll find a sippy cup comforting!

How do you recommend going about practicing with removing bottle and replacing with a cup?

Re: 12 months! Now what??

DD is the same age as your DS and I also send bottles of emb to daycare. I cut back from 3 to 2 a couple of weeks ago. I was just tired of pumping 3 x a day at work and I figured she was old enough to handle it. One difference is our daycare doesn't give her the bottles before naps (not my instructions!). How many naps does your son have at daycare? If it's less than 3, I would think your solution is easy: send that number!

Re: 12 months! Now what??

Originally Posted by @llli*isabelofmtl

DD is the same age as your DS and I also send bottles of emb to daycare. I cut back from 3 to 2 a couple of weeks ago. I was just tired of pumping 3 x a day at work and I figured she was old enough to handle it. One difference is our daycare doesn't give her the bottles before naps (not my instructions!). How many naps does your son have at daycare? If it's less than 3, I would think your solution is easy: send that number!

Thanks Isabel--he only takes 2 naps, so I guess that's what I can do. I just wonder how to make the transition to a sippy cup...he wants nothing to do with it!

Re: 12 months! Now what??

Transition to a sippy cup (or a cup with a straw) is just like everything else - it takes time! So keep offering it with meals, snacks, or in between, let him play around with it, throw it on the floor, etc. He'll figure it out. And your daycare should be moving away from using bottles for all the kids at age one, regardless of what's in the bottle.